Beans?!

[Kawkawkaye]

So I’ve heard that beans are meant to be a big no-no for chickens, unless cooked, but we’ve come into possession of some hens when we bought our new house, and they’ve been brought up on them. Bean vines cover the veggie patch fence, and in the evening the chooks spend their time pecking fresh beans off the vines and plucking dried ones from the dirt. Like they’ve been regularly eating beans their whole lives, and obviously aren’t dead, so therefore I have questions!

Is it all types of beans that are forbidden? The ones we have are snake beans and mung beans.

Are the beans actually poisonous? Or just harmful? Our chooks obviously aren’t dead, but are the beans slowly but surely causing these chooks’ organs to shut down or something? Causing future issues?

I couldn’t find any answers online, so I need all the help I can get!

 

[hkirchn]

My opinion is they are just fine; I'm guessing they are eating a lot more than just beans.

 

[Julesstarohio56]

So I’ve heard that beans are meant to be a big no-no for chickens, unless cooked, but we’ve come into possession of some hens when we bought our new house, and they’ve been brought up on them. Bean vines cover the veggie patch fence, and in the evening the chooks spend their time pecking fresh beans off the vines and plucking dried ones from the dirt. Like they’ve been regularly eating beans their whole lives, and obviously aren’t dead, so therefore I have questions!

Is it all types of beans that are forbidden? The ones we have are snake beans and mung beans.

Are the beans actually poisonous? Or just harmful? Our chooks obviously aren’t dead, but are the beans slowly but surely causing these chooks’ organs to shut down or something? Causing future issues?

I couldn’t find any answers online, so I need all the help I can get!

I think it is dried beans that shouldn’t be fed to chickens. I don’t know much about them being fresh off the vine.

 

[Mvan42]

Fresh beans which are soft may not hurt. I don’t know for sure but dries ones my be a choking hazard.

 

[DobieLover]

So I’ve heard that beans are meant to be a big no-no for chickens, unless cooked, but we’ve come into possession of some hens when we bought our new house, and they’ve been brought up on them. Bean vines cover the veggie patch fence, and in the evening the chooks spend their time pecking fresh beans off the vines and plucking dried ones from the dirt. Like they’ve been regularly eating beans their whole lives, and obviously aren’t dead, so therefore I have questions!

Is it all types of beans that are forbidden? The ones we have are snake beans and mung beans.

Are the beans actually poisonous? Or just harmful? Our chooks obviously aren’t dead, but are the beans slowly but surely causing these chooks’ organs to shut down or something? Causing future issues?

I couldn’t find any answers online, so I need all the help I can get!

The compound we are all warned about that makes uncooked beans toxic is an anti-nutrient called Phytohaemagglutinin which is a lectin that causes gastroenteritis.The absolute worst offending bean highest in concentration of this compound is the red kidney bean.

Lucky for your chickens, mung beans have a very low concentration. Green beans like snake beans are also low in concentration.

All that being said, I would still offer your new flock a complete balanced diet formulated for chickens to minimize the amount of beans they consume. I would not lose sleep over them eating the beans.

I personally like Flock Raiser. It has 20% protein and comes in crumbles and pellets. I ferment my feed and my birds love it. I offer both oyster shell and crushed dried egg shell on the side for the layers as I have a mixed flock including chicks, pullets, a cockerel and a rooster among my laying hens.

 

[Kawkawkaye]

The compound we are all warned about that makes uncooked beans toxic is an anti-nutrient called Phytohaemagglutinin which is a lectin that causes gastroenteritis.The absolute worst offending bean highest in concentration of this compound is the red kidney bean.

Lucky for your chickens, mung beans have a very low concentration. Green beans like snake beans are also low in concentration.

All that being said, I would still offer your new flock a complete balanced diet formulated for chickens to minimize the amount of beans they consume. I would not lose sleep over them eating the beans.

I personally like Flock Raiser. It has 20% protein and comes in crumbles and pellets. I ferment my feed and my birds love it. I offer both oyster shell and crushed dried egg shell on the side for the layers as I have a mixed flock including chicks, pullets, a cockerel and a rooster among my laying hens.

They do get feed every morning, and they’re free range over the entire yard all day, so it’s not like it’s in high concentration. It’s relieving to know that the harmful toxin is in low concentration. Phew!

Strangely enough, our chooks that we raised and introduced to this established flock don’t care for the beans at all.

 

[DobieLover]

They do get feed every morning, and they’re free range over the entire yard all day, so it’s not like it’s in high concentration. It’s relieving to know that the harmful toxin is in low concentration. Phew!

Strangely enough, our chooks that we raised and introduced to this established flock don’t care for the beans at all.

Perhaps the flock you acquired with the house were not fed well and resorted to eating those beans and now have developed the habit that of doing so.